Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charmco – Fielding an inexperienced team with very limited varsity minutes, River View head coach Gehrig Justice hoped his team could garner a .500 record this year.
Tuesday night the young Raiders exceeded expectations.
Riding the inside play of senior Abigail Pruitt and some long-range daggers from freshman Chasity Kennedy, River View upset Greenbrier West 95-92 in a wild Region 3 co-final clash.
With the win the Raiders advance the state Class A state tournament next week in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center where they’ll face No. 2 Gilmer County on Wednesday, March 6 at 1 p.m.
“We have worked so hard for this and we were kind of the underdogs, but we really stepped it up tonight. We played family ball,” Pruitt said. “I just wanted this game so bad and here we are. Chasity Kennedy really picked it up tonight, but we all worked together.”
The visitors raced out to a quick 12-4 lead before the Cavaliers stormed back for two point lead with 2:46 to play in the opening quarter.
Instituting an offense throughout the year that utilized all 12 of his players in quick rotations, Justice made a game plan change after West regained the lead.
“We were worried about their press. The diamond has made us struggle all year,” Justice said. “We started our rotations and all year we had went with the idea of 12-strong and play all of them. We were up 12-4 and we subbed. It quickly got back to 12-12 and then we got behind.”
“We threw the ball away twice, took an ill-advised 3 we shouldn’t have taken and a 15-foot jumper,” Justice went on to say. “I said right then we were going to stick with the ones we are more comfortable with. We knew when push came to shove, we could go with our starters.”
The deficit went to five points before the Raiders closed the quarter on a 12-1 run to take a 26-20 lead.
A conventional three-point play from Maddie Fields to open the second period ignited an 11-1 run for the home squad, but River View had the answer.
When Kaci Hatfield banked in an angle 3-ball, it capped an 8-2 run for a two point lead that was 43-42 at the break.
The visitors came out of the locker room on fire building a eight-point lead in the first three minutes of play that ballooned to 11 points two minutes later.
West ran off seven straight to stay in the game, but trailed 68-64 with eight minutes to play.
“That was a game tonight. At the end of the day, both teams came out and they really fought. They fought and we fought. Tonight is what a regional game should look like at the end,” Greenbrier West head coach Mark Agee said. “We were up, they were up and it came down to the last few seconds. Who would have ever thought you would have come to Greenbrier West High School and see River View score 95 points and Greenbrier West score 92 points.”
While the first quarters were intense back and forth action, the final quarter was a wild west shootout.
With just under six minutes to play, River View was clinging to a six-point lead when Greenbrier West all-stater Preslee Treadway took control.
Working inside on a bad ankle, Treadway scored eight straight to give her team an 80-78 lead with 4:15 to play.
A stick back from Pruitt tied the game a minute later before Treadway dropped a corner 3-pointer for an 85-82 advantage.
Back-to-back buckets from Kaylee Blankenship flipped the led again, only to see Treadway score inside for an 87-86 lead.
Pruitt then split a pair of free throws and scored in the lane to give the Raiders a two-point bulge with 1:55 to play.
Two scores from Treadway and one from Kennedy set the stage for the dramatic finish.
With the game tied at 91-91, Kennedy canned a 3-ball with 45 seconds left which became the eventual game winner.
“My senior stepped up. Kennedy, my freshman, had struggled with threes all year and she hit a huge one,” Justice said. “Kaci got it going for us early and Kaylee who had carried us all year handled the ball.”
Pruitt finished with 37 points, while Kennedy scored 34, including five long balls. Blankenship added 11 points.
“(Pruitt) gave us some trouble inside and they were busting those threes pretty good tonight as well,” Agee said. “I would have like to have shut that down some more.”
Treadway scored 46 points to set a new career high and a new single-game school record. The junior sensation also went over 1,000 points for her career Tuesday.
“When we thought Treadway was out tonight, I really liked our chances. Doggone her, even with a bad ankle, she is tough,” Justice said, respectfully. “First team all-state and if I had a captain vote, she would get it. She is a player.”
Fields scored 17 for West and Brilee Redden had 16 points.
“I told my girls they had nothing to be ashamed up. They worked and fought. They played with all the heart they had in the world and they left it all out on the court. That is all I can expect and I am proud of them.”
Justice believed all along that his young team could make the regional final, but even he was surprised by the big-time effort from his team.
“This team is so young. We graduated Krista (Lester), Haylie (Payne) and Katie (Bailey), three outstanding players and three of the best that I have ever had,” Justice said. “With all of these freshman, I was hoping to be about .500. I thought we could be in the regional championship, but I didn’t think we would have a chance and especially in a 95-92 game. There are three teams in Region 3 that are top-eight teams, if not top-six. I hate one us has to stay home, but I am glad its not us.”
RV: 26 17 25 27 – 95
GW: 20 22 22 28 – 92
River View
Chasity Kennedy 34, Lilly Perkins 2, Kaylee Blankenship 11, Baileigh Auville 2, Brooke Fuller 3, Abigail Pruitt 37, Kaci Hatfield 6.
Greenbrier West
Preslee Treadway 46, Maddie Fields 17, Brilee Redden 16, Hannah Sweet 9, Sam Holliday 4.
